But I did not panic and side slipped the little sucker into that postage stamp field rolling to a stop with no damage to the airplane !
Haha, I've pulled that off three times, I think I've used up my "nine lives" on those!
The skills to
prevent unplanned events are of great importance, but they are not the same skills as those applied to dealing with them. Yes, if I'd poured alcohol into the fuel tanks, two of those glides probably would not have had to be flown so adequately. Preparation skills are intellectual, and largely ground training. Dealing with the sudden silence is muscle memory stuff....
So, the probability of an EFATO goes way up with poor preparation for the flight. But, the EFATO has to be one of the most challenging events to demand judgement and skill instantly, and all the way to the ground. It's worth the regular practice. Luckily, I fly mostly at very quiet airports, so PFL's from the circuit are common for me. Those times I have to sneak in some power on the base to final turn, tell me that I'm not practicing enough!
A few years back, I had to fly a few maintenance check flights on a Tiger Moth, which had not flown in a decade. I flew the entire circuit as an impending EFATO - because honestly, I have never glided a Tiger Moth, and did not have the muscle memory to handle it well!
When I'm training pilots, I'm one of those annoying mentors who first says to fly a more close in downwind, and then at the right point I'll say "you can make it to the runway" as I gently pull the power to idle.